Memories Revisited
by NinjaDevil2000
Summary: Based during season 5 of The Flash but before Ep. 8. What happens when Barry and Nora are taken into the Speed Force to relive some of Barry's worst nightmares? How will Nora react? What is the Speed Force's reasoning? Which terrible memories will the Speed Force show them? Read on to find out.


Author's Note and Disclaimer: Dialogue in italics are taken directly from the episodes from which I took these scenes. Please don't sue me. I don't own anything to do with the TV series, just a few comic books and action figurers. Also, I merely wrote this for fun. If you see any mistakes or SPaG errors, you can let me know, but just remember that I probably won't update this story anytime soon. However, with that said, if there are any plot holes, I want to know immediately because those types of things bother me to no end.

Author's Note II: Set during season 5 but before episode 9. You will want to have watched the entire series of The Flash up to this point, or else you will be spoiled about many seriously important plot points. Are you still here? I'm serious about this. I'm going to be talking about character deaths and stuff like that. Okay, then. Here we go.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Barry, Iris, and Nora were hanging out in the loft. They had just defeated another meta and had run back from STAR Labs about an hour ago. After eating dinner, a delicious meal of Barry's making, the little family wandered into the sitting room and Nora had the chance to ask something that she had been wondering about for a long time.

"Hey, Dad?" she began hesitantly.

"Yeah, Nora?"

"Um, what can you tell me about Mama Nora and Papa Henry?" Barry went a bit pale and quiet but recovered quickly. Iris squeezed his hand in her's, as if trying to transfer to him some of her strength.

"Um, well –– " Barry began, but before he could say anything more, he felt something. As if something within him was stirring. He knew the feeling; he had had it a couple times before and knew what was coming. He stood up suddenly, startling his wife and daughter.

"Barry, what's wrong?" Iris asked, looking a bit worried at the odd look on her husband's face. Barry stayed still and quiet and closed his eyes, feeling the energy wash over him.

As Iris and Nora watched, they too began feeling something; almost as if lighting was about to strike within their apartment. The tingling sensation was growing stronger, then, out of nowhere, a breach, very much like the ones Cisco created, appeared in the middle of the apartment, right between the kitchen and the sitting area.

"Hello, Barry." A figure stepped through the breach and Barry recognized it instantly. The Speed Force was once again calling upon him; and it had taken the form of his mother.

"What do you want?" Barry asked. He thought that he might know what they wanted, but he was surprised.

"Don't worry, Barry," began the figure of Nora Allen, "We are not here to take you back. We are pleased with how you have been using your talents and speed, and we believe that the Speed Force prison can remain empty for now." Both Iris and Barry regained some color, but Nora remained frozen and had shock upon her face.

"D - Dad?" she began.

"Oh, yeah," began Barry. "Yeah, Nora, this is the - uh - the Speed Force."

"B - But Dad, she looks like Mama N - Nora."

"Yeah, I know, hon." Barry swallowed. "The Speed Force takes many different forms and, well, this is the form it most often takes for me," he replied.

"Oh," said Nora simply, then went quiet again, taking in the sight of her long-dead grandmother, oblivious to the conversation going on between Barry and Iris and the Speed Force.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"No, absolutely not," Barry said sternly. "I'm not subjecting my daughter to that pain."

"Barry, please, hear us out," the Speed Force replied, instantly calming Barry with the use of his mother's voice. He remained quiet and relaxed slightly, gesturing for the figure of his mother to continue speaking.

"We believe that if Nora can see some of the difficult periods in your life and some of the troubles you have had to overcome, she might be more prone to being . . . less reckless. Perhaps more concerned and attentive."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nora finally brought herself out of her reverie, and focused her attention on the current conversation, noticing her father standing very still and looking thoughtful.

"No." Barry stared straight at the Speed Force, defiance etched all over his features.

"Barry," began the figure once again, losing the air of comfort and calmness, similar to a mother losing patience with her child. "We are not asking. Let her come with us willingly, or we will take her by force."

"Barry," started Iris, speaking for the first time in a few minutes, "it might not be a bad idea."

"What?" exclaimed Barry, turning suddenly to face his wife. Unnoticed, Nora sidled up next to them and listened in on their private interaction.

"Barry, think about it. Nora doesn't know much about your life, apart from what she's read in a museum. It be good for her to learn about some of the things that have happened to you."

"But, Iris, think about everything that's happened to me. Zoom, Thawne, Devoe, Savitar, all the countless metas we've fought, all the things that have happened to me and you and our family and friends." Barry swallowed and his eyes felt wet. "I don't want her to see that."

"Barry," interrupted the Speed Force, "perhaps we could compromise."

"What do you mean?" asked Nora, startling her parents.

"Nora, don't eavesdrop like that," rebuked Iris. "It's not polite."

"Sorry, Mom," Nora looked slightly ashamed for a second, then replaced it with a look of curiosity.

"What kind of compromise?" Nora asked again, turning to look at the Speed Force figure.

"We still deem it necessary for you to come but if you wish it, your father may accompany you." Nora smiled, and Barry and Iris looked a bit less skeptical.

"I guess there's nothing I can say to change your minds, is there?" asked Barry, looking resigned.

"No, there is not."

Barry nodded. "What are you going to be showing her? Showing us?"

"Moments of importance. Choices, events, . . . and pain. Times and events that have affected your life in many ways," replied the Speed Force vaguely. Barry sighed. The Speed Force never gave him a straight answer.

Barry turned back to Iris and kissed her, giving her hand a strengthening squeeze. He turned to face his daughter.

"Are you ready?" Barry asked her.

"Yeah, definitely." Nora looked excited and Barry sighed inwardly. She had no idea what she was about to see. She had no idea that being a speedster wasn't all fame and fun. And to be honest, Barry was scared. He was terrified of what he was going to experience again. He knew the horrors of his past by heart, and he was frightened of how it would affect his daughter. But did he really have a choice?

"Okay, we're ready." Barry gave one last look to Iris, who gave him a smile, and then turned, walking into the Speed Force breach, followed by his daughter.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As the apartment vanished from sight, and the Speed Force was spinning around them, the physical representation of the Speed Force turned and said, "We thought it would be wise to start at the beginning. And," it added as a side-note, "you will not be able to be seen by the people of these memories. " Then it vanished.

"What did she mean, Dad?" asked Nora, as the Speed Force dispersed around them and was replaced by a dark, deserted street. "What did she mean, 'the beginning?'" Barry felt weak almost instantly, as he always did when he witnessed this. He silently motioned to the house in front of them, where you could see red and yellow lightning through the front window. He knew what was happening. He, Barry, was fighting against the Reverse-Flash, Eobard Thawne, in Barry's own home. Nora stared at the lightning and before he could stop her, Barry saw her run past him and knew what she was seeing. His mother being murdered. Barry couldn't bring himself to watch. Not again. He sat quietly against a tree, letting the tears well up in his eyes. He waited there for what seemed like an hour, but what was really only a few minutes.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As Nora ran into the house, she saw lightning, and heard people screaming. She watched as her father, only an eleven year-old boy at the time, was grabbed by the adult version of her father. She watched as her grandmother was stabbed in the chest by the Reverse Flash, and left to die. After the lightning faded, Nora shuffled towards her grandmother, sobbing into her hands. Her grandfather lay unconscious on the floor, but Nora hardly noticed him. All her attention was focused on the pretty, red-haired woman, lying on the floor, breathing her final breaths. Nora kneeled down next to her, wishing she could talk to her and tell her it would be okay, even though Nora knew it wouldn't be okay. Nora watched as her namesake, took her last breaths, and lay still. After another minute, Nora stood and ran back out to her father.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He felt a breeze and looked up at his daughter. Her face was stained with tears and her hands were shaking.

She kneeled down next to her father and said, "I'm sorry, Dad. I know now why you hate him so much. I'm sorry I always asked about them. You probably never wanted to relive that."

"It's okay, Nora. To be honest, I've relived it multiple times."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I actually brought them both back for a while."

"You did? What happened?"

"I made an alternate reality. It's called Flashpoint, and I lived their for a few months, but . . ." Barry trailed off, but Nora's look of curiosity prompted him to continue. "But, things began to get way out of hand. Things were happening because of my mistake, and even when I went back to . . . to let it happen like it should, I couldn't make things exactly like they had been." They sat in silence for another minute or two, then a breach opened in front of them, letting the form of Barry's mother approach them again. Nora let out a small gasp when she saw her, and Barry put an arm around her.

"Are you ready?" she asked, looking patiently at the two of them. They nodded and stood up quietly, both wondering and dreading what would be next.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They were suddenly standing in the pipeline of S.T.A.R. Labs, and again, Barry knew what was going to happen. A round sphere was situated in the middle of the pipeline, and Thawne was sitting inside it, programming the coordinates for the proper time. Joe and Cisco were watching and Barry knew that Iris, Professor Stein, Ronnie, Caitlin, and Eddie were watching everything from the cortex. Out of nowhere, Barry slammed through the front of the sphere, destroying the time ship.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Barry and Nora were standing against the wall, watching everything unfold. Barry watched himself and Thawne, who still looked like Wells, face each other. Barry heard everything Thawne was saying as if it was coming through a muffled phone.

_"You could've saved her. You could have had everything you ever wanted," _he yelled into Barry's face.

_"I already do,_" replied the past Barry. Thawne smirked and pulled his hood on, _"Not for long."_

The pipeline was filled with red and yellow lightning, so very much like that fateful night at Barry's house Nora had just witnessed. The fight lasted only a few moments and as the Reverse Flash was gaining the upper hand and had Barry at his mercy, gunshot rang through the pipeline.

And there stood Eddie. Standing, staring at Thawne, the gun in his hand still smoking slightly, his hand shaking, and liquid red spreading across his chest. He fell to the floor, Joe running to his side instantly. Thawne released the past version of Barry and had staggered back, shaking, his speed leaving him. He took off his hood and fell upon his knees. As past Barry watched and Cisco explained why Thawne was being erased, future Barry ran to Eddie's side. Barry had never had the chance to say goodbye to Eddie, or to thank him for his sacrifice. He knew that Eddie wouldn't hear or see him, but Barry needed this. He kneeled down next to him and Joe's anxious, pleading voice became muffled, just like Cisco's and Thawne's. Time seemed to slow, and Barry watched as Eddie's face went paler and paler.

"Thank you, Eddie," Barry whispered. "You're a hero. I'm sorry that I - I couldn't save you." Barry's eyes filled with tears and a few fell onto Eddie's shirt. Eddie had sacrificed himself for his friends and his family; for Barry and for Iris. Barry stood and saw Iris pass by him, kneeling next to her dying fiance. He saw Nora staring at the place where Eobard Thawne had just vanished, and as he reached her, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Dad, what was that? What happened?"

"I'll tell you in a minute." The two of them walked through the door and walked into the hall where they sat down and Barry proceeded to explain about Eddie's sacrifice and how Eddie was Thawne's ancestor. When he was done, Nora leaned into him and Barry put an arm around her, a few of his remaining tears falling onto her hair.

"I'm glad this is helping you as well, Barry." The Speed Force breach had reappeared again and with it, the form of Barry's mother. "We were hoping it would. Are you ready for your next excursion?" she asked pleasantly and Barry and Nora stood, silently following her into the breach.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Now, they emerged into a wide, open area, a few trees behind them and directly to their left, was S.T.A.R. Labs. In the distance, two figures stood.

"Oh no. No no no no." Barry muttered.

"Dad? Dad, what is it?" Nora asked, worriedly.

"I'm so sorry, Nora."

Past Barry and Zoom stood facing each other. Future Barry and Nora stood watching the scene unfold. They saw Barry run around and around the building, preparing to throw a bolt of lightning at Zoom and stun him. Barry stopped suddenly and aimed to throw, lightning sliding out from between Barry's fingers, rocketing through the air towards Zoom. But it failed. Instead of hitting Zoom, Zoom ran towards it and caught it in midair. His demonic claws twisted around it and sent it hurtling back through the air at Barry, throwing him backwards. Baffled, Barry stood up and faced Zoom once again.

Future Barry and Nora could vaguely hear the voices of the two speedsters, Zoom's deep and guttural voice distinctly different from Barry's. After a few words were spoken, the two speedsters began to run. The speedster in red baiting the other to chase him, which he did; but the speedster in red had underestimated the speedster in black. The orange and the blue lightning sparked all around the building, upon the roof, and through the air. After a short fight, in the cold night air, the two speedsters fell back to earth, Zoom on top of Barry, pressing him into the cement.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Barry watched and remembered trying to fight back, trying to land a single punch, but instead, only feeling unendurable pain as the evil speedsters' fists landed again and again on his chest and abdomen. He turned away and leaned against a tree, listening. He heard the bones in his back snap, his own scream of agony rip through the air, and Zoom's growl of triumph. Zoom had just paralyzed him, making him go limp and fall to the ground. Barry turned just in time to see Zoom stab his limp body with syringes. Zoom sped away, dragging Barry's limp and nearly-dead body with him. After a minute of pure silence, broken only by Nora's sobs, they saw the blue lightning flash inside S.T.A.R. Labs and then back out a moment later, into the dark night.

"Dad? Dad, what was that? Who - who did that to you, Dad? Was that Zoom?" Nora sobbed, and she buried her face into her father's arms and stayed that way for a few minutes.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I didn't want you to see that. I didn't want you to know about any of this."

"Why, Dad? Why has all of this happened to you?"

"I don't know. But, it's made me the person I am today, so . . . I guess I can't complain too much." Nora chuckled and Barry smiled.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Barry said again.

"It's okay, Dad. I would've learned about it at some point anyways." They slid down the tree trunks behind them and faced each other.

"Dad, who was that? Who's Zoom? Do you know?"

"His name was Hunter Zolomon and he's from Earth 2. Although," said Barry, remembering with fury how Zoom had tricked him, "he told us his name was Jay Garrick, the identity he had stolen from the Flash of Earth 3 and . . ."

"And what, Dad?" prompted Nora.

"Jay Garrick. The real Jay Garrick is the doppleganger of my father. Anyways, Zoom posed as a good man for months. He was part of the team. He was the one who taught me how to throw lightning. He learned about us, about our weaknesses. He kidnapped Caitlin and kept her captive on Earth 2 for a month. He tricked the entire team." Barry lapsed into silence, staring at his hands which were folded in front of him on his knees.

"How'd you beat him?" Nora asked quietly.

"I didn't. Not really. The time wraiths took him away."

"The what?" Nora asked.

"Time wraiths. They keep a constant eye on the timeline and keep it from harm. If anybody severely breaks the timeline, they get taken by the wraiths. I'm not sure what happens after that."

"What did Zoom do that made the time wraiths come after him?"

"He created too many time remnants," replied Barry.

"Really? I didn't know that was possible." Nora looked curious. "When have you created time remnants, Dad?"

"I actually created one when I fought Zoom. And I will create one when I - "

"That is enough for now," came the voice of the Speed Force. Both Nora and Barry stood up quickly and faced the figure.

"Come, there is more to see." Barry and Nora followed the Speed Force back into the breach and reappeared. This time, instead of outside, Barry and Nora were inside the small house. The house where his mother had been stabbed by Thawne and where his father had been . . .

"No, please don't show her this!" Barry yelled at the ceiling. "Please not this." Barry fell back against the wall, and heard Nora crouch down next to him.

"Dad? Dad, what's about to happen?" Barry stayed silent looking at the floor, already sobbing quietly. Why? Why were they making him relive it? Why were they making his daughter see her grandfather be murdered?

"Dad, it's okay. Whatever it is, we can manage it together." Barry looked up into his daughter's face. She gave him a sad smile and Barry saw how much she really looked like his mother. He gave a small nod and stood up next to her.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They stood there for what felt like ages, but what was really only about a minute. Then Zoom was there, and Henry too, a captive in the monsters' arms. Barry was standing just in front of the future Barry and Nora. Barry heard himself. He heard himself begging and pleading with the monster.

_ "Jay, don't do this. I'm begging you, I'm begging you. Please, take me! Kill me!"_

"_No_!" Henry was yelling. Nora clutched at her father's arm, supporting nearly all his weight.

_ "You still won't believe me that you and I are the same,"_ Zoom was saying, _"so I'm going to have to make you believe me!"_

_ "Whatever happens,"_ said Henry, "_you have made me the happiest father!"_

"_Dad_!" Barry was still pleading.

_ "This time, you're going to watch your parent die just like I did!" _ Zoom snarled.

_"No, no!"_

_ "And this is gonna make you just like me!"_ Zoom yelled.

"_Your mother and I lov - "_ Henry began, then it was over. Zoom had thrust his fist through Henry's chest. The memory was over. Barry was sobbing on the floor of the house, now empty, being comforted by his daughter who was also sobbing.

"Dad," Nora said quietly. "That was Papa Henry, wasn't it?" Barry nodded.

"Zoom. He wanted me to become just like him, to lose everything and become a monster like him. He believed that family and friends were a weakness," Barry was saying quietly. "I hated him. For so long, I hated him. That was when I created Flashpoint. I went back in time and lived with my parents for three months. But everything went wrong. New metas were being created and the people that were closest to me were getting hurt. So, I released the Reverse Flash and I let - I let him kill my mom." Nora gasped. "So everything would be set back to normal. There were - there are some things that are different though."

"Like what?" asked Nora.

"Cisco's brother is dead. Dante Ramon. And Diggle's son, Baby John, used to be Baby Sara. Those are a couple but there are other changes. Something different to nearly everybody's life who is part of mine."

"What was it like? Living with Papa Henry and Mama Nora, I mean. Having them with you?" Barry smiled wanly.

"It was amazing. But, it also . . . wasn't."

"What do you mean?" Nora asked.

"Joe and Iris. They weren't a part of my life. My parents were alive so there was no need for me to go and live them when I was a kid. And I never met Cisco and Caitlin and Ralph and Harry, Julian and Wally, Jesse. None of my friends were in my life because my life was so different."

"Oh." Nora was quiet and the two of them sat against the wall for a few minutes, before the breach opened into the Speed Force once again.

"Why?" Barry asked, now standing in the middle of the Speed Force, the space-like emptiness drifting around them. "Why are you showing her this? Making me watch it again? Do you enjoy it?"

"On the contrary, Barry," replied the Speed Force in an uncannily calm voice. "It is very painful for us to watch you and your fellow speedsters in pain. But pain is necessary for growth and wisdom."

"Why are you showing her?" Barry pointed at Nora. "She didn't need to see her grandparents murdered right in front of her."

"No, Barry. I think she did," continued the Speed Force, still in that calm, eery voice. "She will now understand the dilemmas that speedsters face every day and why it is important to know about loss and grief."

"She could've learned about that by just me telling her about this. She doesn't need to see people murdered right in front of her. Especially not her family."

"Dad, please." Nora placed a hand on her father's shoulder. "I'm old enough to make my own decisions and I think that it's good I'm seeing all this stuff."

"Nora, honey. You don't need to say that. The Speed Force doesn't rule over us, they're not a god. You don't have to obey their every wish."

"No, I know that. But they're not going to purposefully hurt us, are they? They'll protect us, won't you?" she asked, turning to the figure of Barry's mother.

"If we can," she responded simply.

"I'm okay, Dad." Nora turned back to Barry. "I can handle it."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Fine," Barry said, huffily. He turned and faced the figure of his mother. "Where are you taking us next?" The Speed Force nodded and a minute they weren't standing in the middle of the Speed Force. No, they were standing in S.T.A.R Labs. Barry was laying on a bed, sleeping and Cisco was sitting in a chair next to him, playing on his phone. Barry's shoulder was bandaged up and he was breathing slightly irregularly.

"Dad, what happened to you?" Nora was standing at Barry's shoulder and was looking, scared, at her injured father.

"Savitar. Your Uncle Wally was . . . tricked by Savitar and put in the Speed Force prison. He was stuck there for a while and . . . and he was put through hell."

"What happened to him, Dad? To Uncle Wally?"

"He - he was," Barry said thickly, "forced to watch his mother's death over and over again. He wasn't the same for a long time."

"What happened to you?" Nora asked.

"Well, I fought against Savitar and he stabbed me with one of his metal spears," Barry said simply.

"Ow, are you okay?" Nora asked, cringing slightly.

"Yeah, it shattered my shoulder but I healed pretty fast. It was another close call."

"How many close calls have you had, Dad?"

"Too many to count. But I'll always have my friends and family. Especially your mom." When he said that though, Barry was reminded of something else Savitar had done and he had a faint suspicion of what the Speed Force might show them next.

"Love you, Dad." Nora leaned into her father's side and hugged him.

"I love you, Nora." Barry pressed his cheek into her hair and smiled. He knew that eventually Nora would have to leave, and he knew he would be sad when that day came, but he also knew that she was here now, and he would enjoy every minute of it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Are you ready to proceed?" The Speed Force breach had just opened once again. Barry and Nora, who had since grown used to it showing up at odd moments, silently walked into the space-like vastness, and waited for whatever memory it would show them next. As they walked into the Speed Force, a different breach opened almost instantly and Barry and Nora walked through. As they did so, a breeze swept across their skin and voices echoed through the night air, from the people only a few feet from them.

Immediately, Barry knew once again what the Speed Force was showing them. His suspicions had been correct. There sat Barry on the cold cement, cradling a limp body in his arms. Iris, his beautiful fiance. Dead. But Barry knew that wasn't what really happened. As he watched, the body of Iris changed; it changed into the body of HR. Nora, who had let out a small shriek at seeing Iris's body in her father's arms, gasped at seeing the change in bodies. Not able to see very clearly in the dark, Nora crept forward slightly, her father just behind her.

"Dad, who is that? That's not Harry, is it?"

"No, that's HR. He's the Harrison Wells from Earth 19," Barry replied. "He was a good man. He - he sacrificed himself to save your mom."

"What?"

"Yeah. I . . . accidentally ran into the future and saw what was going to happen, so . . . I spent almost a whole year trying to keep it from happening."

"What was it?"

"It - it was Savitar. He was murdering your mom and so I did everything I could to save her, but it wasn't enough. But HR, he knew that if he could pretend to be Iris without me knowing, he could trick Savitar and save her. But it cost him his life."

"Why would he have to do it without you knowing?" Nora asked, confused.

"I guess you don't know who Savitar is, do you?"

"No, I don't." Nora looked back at HR. Tracy had run over now, and they were talking quietly.

Barry swallowed. "Savitar . . . is - was - is me."

"What?" Nora gasped again.

"Yeah, he had all of my memories and he knew everything I knew, so the team had to find a way to hide Iris without me knowing, but Savitar tricked them. He tricked the team and HR accidentally told him where Iris was. I suppose that was one of the reasons he decided to pose as Iris, because he felt guilty about telling Savitar where she was."

"Wow, that was really brave of him."

"Yeah, it was," Barry replied. Nora looked back at HR; his head in hand in Tracy's. "Who's she?"

"That's Tracy Brand. We enlisted her help with a weapon to stop Savitar."

"Did it work?"

"Almost."

"Oh." Nora sensed her father not wanting to linger on the situation and so dropped the subject.

"As you are done contemplating the current situation, are you ready for the final example?" The Speed Force had reappeared for, what apparently, would be the final time today. Neither Barry nor Nora could say they were disappointed.

"I s'pose." Nora shrugged. "I mean," she continued, "how much worse can it get?" Barry shrugged halfheartedly, not remembering what happened last year.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As the Speed Force opened for what would be, they appeared in the Speed Lab. Barry was there once again and so was Ralph, along with another man Nora didn't recognize. He was in power-dampening cuffs. They were talking but Nora couldn't hear them because she was preoccupied with her father. Barry had gone quite pale once again.

"Dad, what's about to happen?" Nora asked.

"That - that's Devoe. The Thinker." Nora looked confused so Barry elaborated. "He took the bodies and the powers of the metas that he created. That guy was one of them. He could open dimensional portals without any technology and Ralph . . . Ralph is also one of those metas."

"He was created by Devoe?" asked Nora, astounded.

"Well, his powers, anyways," Barry replied.

"Why are they showing us this, Dad? Do you know?"

"Yeah, yeah I do." Devoe was now talking and he held up his hands and snapped open the cuffs. Nora gasped and Barry turned around, not wanting to watch one of his friends 'die'. He heard his own voice, begging Devoe not to take Ralph but it was no use. Both Barry and Ralph were at The Thinker's mercy and there was nothing either of them could do. Barry heard Devoe. He was thanking him for all the information and training Ralph's body had, that he had now stolen. Barry heard Cisco and Cailtin get beaten and, out of the corner of his eye, saw himself fly across the room. He heard Ralph breach away and then everything went silent. He thought it safe to turn around and he faced his daughter, the room emptied of the past Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco. Her face had more tear tracks and she was biting her lip. She walked towards Barry, hugged him, then spoke into his chest.

"Why did he do that to Ralph?"

"He wanted his powers, and Ralph's capabilities allowed Devoe to remain in his body longer, because the other ones were . . . dying too quickly."

"Oh." Nora was quiet and her and her father stood, swaying slightly and a few minutes later she spoke again.

"Why doesn't anybody ever talk about that?"

"Well, it's not something likes to relive." Barry chuckled grimly, letting her know that he wasn't rebuking her. A few minutes later, while the father and daughter were still swaying, a breach opened again and they saw the Speed Force for the final time that day. They did not speak and when the breach opened into the Allen's apartment again, Nora gave a small wave in parting and Barry gave a slight nod, then it vanished without a trace. Apparently, they had been gone no longer than a few minutes because Iris was still there and was sitting on the couch, a mug of coffee in her hands. As soon as they reappeared, she stood and went to Barry. They hugged each other, then Iris turned and hugged Nora. They were all silent for a few minutes, and after Barry and Nora had their own mugs of coffee in their hands, Iris finally asked.

"What happened?" Nora and Barry looked at each other. Nora received a small nod from her father; his way of saying she could explain about what they had witnessed.

She explained quickly and without too many details about how they had seen Nora and Henry's death. This made Iris's eyes well up with tears and she moved closer to Barry, who was sitting next to her. Nora also went over everything else they saw, Eddie's death, at which Iris seemed to hide away within herself. She was happy with Barry, happier than she had ever been, but she had been close with Eddie, and the way he had given his life, was a sudden shock. She listened with horror as Nora said that she had seen Zoom break her father's back and seen HR's death. After Iris had heard everything, they all fell quiet and without saying anything, Nora moved towards the couch and squeezed between her parents. She thought she was a bit old for cuddling, but with everything her and her father had just seen, the rules flew out the window. She loved her parents and would do everything she could to keep them safe. Then again, she would have to, or else she might not come to be.

The small family sat in the sitting room, taking in each other's company and thinking about their pasts. They knew how hard it was to be a hero, but they didn't really think about how hard, until they thought about their pasts. In a way, they were all glad that the Speed Force had intervened because it didn't just help Nora. It helped Barry and Iris as well.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later, when Barry and Iris were alone, he told her about the finer details of their 'trip' and how Nora had reacted to certain moments. They then lay next to each other in bed and remembered all the times in their pasts, when sometimes things seemed hopeless or depressing, but they also remembered the good times. When life couldn't have been better and when their family was all together.


End file.
